Enquiry to drawdown in 4 to 6 weeks
We front-load the underwriting so the decision comes first and the paperwork follows. Here is the whole journey, stage by stage, with honest timings.
Share the scheme
Day 1
Send us the essentials: location, total cost, GDV, planning status, senior terms if you have them, and your track record. A ten-minute email or the enquiry form is enough to start.
Credit view and term sheet
Within 48 hours
We underwrite up front: the appraisal, the comparables, the profit on cost, the exit. If the deal works you get a term sheet with real numbers. If it does not, you get the reasons.
Valuation and due diligence
Weeks 1 to 3
An independent RICS valuation, cost plan review and the usual KYC. We run this in parallel with the senior lender's process wherever possible, so nothing waits twice.
Intercreditor agreement
Weeks 2 to 4
The document that governs how the two lenders coexist: drawdown priority, waterfalls, enforcement rights, cure periods. We have agreed these terms with most active UK senior lenders, so it is usually days of lawyer time, not weeks.
Completion and drawdown
Weeks 4 to 6
Second charge registered, facility completed, funds drawn to the agreed schedule alongside the senior facility.
Build, monitor, exit
Through the term
We monitor progress through the monitoring surveyor's reports and stay out of your way. At practical completion you sell or refinance, the senior facility clears first, then the mezzanine, then everything left is yours.
Underwriting first, process second
Most lending timelines are slow because the decision happens last, after weeks of document gathering. We reverse it: an experienced credit view lands within 48 hours, and everything after that is execution, run in parallel with your senior lender wherever possible.
Real underwriting up front
The term sheet reflects an actual credit decision, not an algorithm's opening position.
Intercreditor fluency
We have agreed terms with most active UK senior lenders. The document set rarely needs reinventing.
Parallel, not sequential
Valuation, legals and senior-lender workstreams run at the same time, so nothing waits twice.
Process questions, answered
What do you need to issue a term sheet?
Enough to underwrite: site address, total cost breakdown, GDV with some evidence, planning status, proposed senior terms if agreed, and a summary of schemes you have completed. A complete enquiry gets a credit view inside 48 hours.
Does my senior lender have to approve the mezzanine?
Yes. Senior facilities routinely permit mezzanine behind them subject to an intercreditor agreement. We work directly with your senior lender's team on documents the market already uses.
How is interest paid?
Most developers roll interest up so nothing is serviced during the build; it is repaid at exit with the principal. Serviced structures are available where the scheme cash-flows support them.
What happens if the build runs late?
Talk to us early. Extensions are agreed case by case, priced fairly, and are far easier to arrange before a facility expires than after.
Do you take personal guarantees?
In most cases yes, alongside the second charge. The scope is set out plainly in the term sheet, so there are no surprises at legals.
Start the clock
A complete enquiry gets a credit view inside 48 hours. Share the scheme and see where it lands.